Beer Me

German Drinkers Spit Out Earnest American Craft Beer

Pilsner snobs.
Pilsner snobs. Photo: iStockphoto

That’s exactly what one drinker did, anyhow, after sampling product from Germany’s newest American-run nano-brewery, exclaiming, “This smells like cleaning solution! If I have to go to the hospital, it’ll be your fault!” It’s probably not a surprise, but the three American teachers who started Vagabund Brauerei, Germany’s first CSB (yes, Community Supported Brewery), after tiring of the “homogeneous taste” of domestic brews in Berlin, are having some trouble wooing locals. That’s because Germany loves pilsner, strictly regulated and generally unchanged for centuries, and these hippie-dippy saisons, stouts, porters, IPAs, double IPAs, black IPAs, et al are a bit too much. Still, microbreweries are growing rapidly in Germany, with small-scale beer ops accounting for 70 percent of start-ups, and since Brooklyn beer is super cool these days, the future is likely to be bright for Vagabund and its American-inspired peers, like the promisingly named Beer4Wedding. [NBC News]

German Drinkers Spit Out Earnest American Craft Beer